HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s seaports handled in excess of 537.7 million tonnes of goods in the first nine months of the year, a year-on-year rise of 3 per cent, reported the Việt Nam Maritime Administration.

Despite the negative impacts of COVID-19 on some major ports in the southern region, the total volume of container cargo going through seaports maintained a double-digit growth rate of 15 per cent compared to the same period last year to near 18.6 million TEUs.

Of the figure, the volume of exports was estimated to hit over 6 million TEUs, surging 13 per cent, that of imports over 6.1 million TEUs, up 18 per cent, and that of domestic goods 6.3 million TEUs, up 13 per cent.

Although some seaport areas were put under strict social distancing measures in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, the volume of goods that went through those in HCM City expanded more than 7 per cent, in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu 5 per cent, and in Hải Phòng nearly 11.7 per cent year on year.

Under a freshly approved master plan on developing the domestic seaport network over the next 10 years, with a vision towards 2050, Việt Nam aims to develop a uniform system of modern seaports that provide high-quality services, meet needs for socio-economic development, and ensure national security and defence, maritime safety and environmental protection, and improving the economy’s competitiveness.

It is expected to help the country fulfill its goal of becoming an upper-middle-income developing country with modern industry by 2030.

The plan classifies Vietnamese seaports into five groups based on their geographical locations. About VNĐ313 trillion (US$13.74 billion) mobilised outside the State budget will be needed for its implementation. — VNS